The present invention relates generally to the field of communications, and in particular to configuring devices for secure operations.
Mobile wireless communications devices are increasingly being used within corporate and governmental organizations. With the increased usage of mobile devices, companies are faced with the issue of defining and enforcing a secure mode of operation for their deployed devices that they consider secure and in accordance with their corporate or government security policy.
For example, when government agencies purchase and deploy a product that has been validated to FIPS 140-2 (“Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules”) the product is only authorized for use by employees when it operates in a secure mode of operation referred to as the FIPS mode of operation. With the many different security settings that are potentially configurable, the task of defining and configuring a secure mode of operation on an individual IT policy basis for multiple devices is difficult. Also, once a device is configured into a secure mode, the device operator does not have an efficient way to know that the device has been so configured.